Supplemental Security Income

SSR 82-37: SECTIONS 1614(f)(3) and 1621 (42 U.S.C. 1382c(f)(3) and
1382j) SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME -- ELIGIBILITY -- DEEMING OF INCOME
AND RESOURCES FROM AN ALIEN'S SPONSOR

20 CFR 416.1160(a)(2)

SSR 82-37

The claimant is an alien whose entrance into the United States (U.S.) on
August 2, 1980 was sponsored by the husband of his wife's cousin. On
November 4, 1980, the claimant applied for Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) benefits. When the Social Security Administration (SSA) determined
that the claimant was ineligible for SSI benefits because his income and
resources exceeded the statutory limits, he appealed. Under a provision in
section 1621 of the Social Security Act (the Act), the claimant's income
and resources were deemed to include the income and resources of his
sponsor. None of the exceptions to that provision was applicable to the
claimant. Held, with the inclusion of the sponsor's income and
resources, the claimant was ineligible for SSI benefits because his income
and resources exceeded the statutory limits.

The issue is whether the claimant should have the income and resources of
his sponsor deemed to him for purposes of determining his eligibility for
SSI benefits.

The claimant's immigration to the U.S. from Taiwan on August 2, 1980 was
sponsored by the husband of his wife's cousin. The claimant is almost
totally paralyzed resulting from viral myelitis contracted while an
employee of the U.S. Navy Medical Research Unit during the 1960's.

Following his arrival in the U.S., the claimant and his wife applied for
Aid to Families with Dependent Children and for food stamps. He also
applied for SSI benefits on November 4, 1980. The claimant and his family
do not live with sponsor and his spouse, but they do live in the household
of another couple. The claimant alleged that neither he nor his family had
made any contributions towards household expenses.

On December 6, 1980, the claimant was notified that part of the income
and property owned by the claimant's sponsor had been deemed to the
claimant for a 3-year period. The sponsor, who is a doctor, filed a
Statement of Income and Resources on December 10, 1980, in which he
disclosed annual income of $63,000.00 and resources in excess of
$15,000.00. The basis for the claimant's appeal is his belief that it was
unfair to deem the income and resources of his sponsor to him since he was
allowed to enter the U.S. because he had received his disabling impairment
while an employee of the U.S. Navy.

Section 1621(a) of the Act provides that -- "For purposes of determining
eligibility for and the amount of benefits under this title for an
individual who is an alien, the income and resources of any person who (as
a sponsor of such individual's entry into the United States) executed an
affidavit in support or similar agreement with respect to such individual,
and the income and resources of the sponsor's spouse, shall be deemed to
be the income and resources of such individual (in accordance with
subsections (b) and (c)) for a period of three years after the
individual's entry into the United States. any such income deemed to be
income of such individual shall be treated as unearned income of such
individual."

Section 1621(f) of the Act provides that -- "(1) The provisions of this
section shall not apply with respect to any individual who is an "aged,
blind, or disabled individual" for purposes of this title by reason of
blindness (as determined under section 1614(a)(2)) or disability (as
determined under section 1614(a)(3)), from and after the onset of the
impairment, if such blindness or disability commenced after the date of
such individual's admission into the United States for permanent
residence. (2) The provisions of this section shall not apply with respect
to any alien who is --

(A) admitted to the United States as a result of the application, prior
to April 1, 1980, of the provisions of section 203(a)(7) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act;

(B) admitted to the United States as a result of the application, after
March 31, 1980, of the provisions of section 207(c)(1) of such Act;

(C) paroled into the United States as a refugee under section 212(d)(5)
of such Act; or

(D) granted political asylum by the Attorney General."

At his hearing, the claimant requested special humanitarian consideration
in his case. While SSA was sympathetic to the plight of the claimant, it
was bound by the deeming provision in section 1621 of the Act, and the
claimant did not meet any of the exceptions to that provision. Hence, SSA
had no alternative but to find that the income and resources of the
claimant's sponsor were deemable to the claimant through July 1983.
Accordingly, SSA determined that the claimant was ineligible for SSI
benefits because his income and resources exceeded the statutory
limits.